This Is “Reality” The Hannity audio is actually a few weeks old according to my reporting, running on the radio in South Carolina in advance of Trump’s trip to the State. I saw your coverage and comments about the Sean Hannity audio and while I understand your frustration with the Obama language and Hannity talking points, I’d like you to stop whining. Until Rachel Maddow or Chris Hayes get their sit down with Trump, Hannity has the ear of the President. In 78 seconds he talks about manufacturing jobs in America being threatened by an offshore hedge fund, I’ll take it. The rest, that’s part of the reality show we live in.
Audience Of One. The moment the ITC voted to find serious injury, the jobs in the solar industry were in one person’s hands – and that’s Trump. He will have advisors in the White House that are nationalists and free market capitalists and they’ll argue about the virtue of both. What solar needs him to hear is that people are making stuff in the US for the solar industry and tariffs will impact jobs performed by robots and not people. Any tariff would lose American jobs and drive more robots working in the dark. An audience of one, an audience that watches Hannity, follows him on Twitter and retweets him. Hannity has the audience – you and I do not.
Protectionism Is Hated. When it comes to protectionism, the republican establishment and corporate interests cant align more on their hatred for these things. That’s why you see Heritage, Cato, R Street, ALEC and others come together with the solar industry to fight back. I’m thankful because they are good at public affairs and have the budget to attack this with great influence.
No More SUNE. A shareholder vote at TERP has approved the change to Brookfield as the sponsor of the yieldco, which is now owned 51% by Brookfield. Next up with Terraform Global which would quickly turn Brookfield in one of the largest solar asset owners in the world.
FERC Comments. Given all that is going on, not much focus has been given to the DOE NOPR that asks FERC to give subsidies to coal and nuclear plants. This could create destructive impacts on the power markets. The FERC commissioners appear sympathetic to the intent but feel changes would need to occur in order to move something forward. I’d expect many interested parties to continue alignment to educate the commission on pushing this back significantly.
Solar Focus Conference. Want to hear more about power markets and retail energy? I’ll be interviewing CleanChoice CEO Tom Matzzie at MDV-SEIA’s conference on November 7th.
- CNBC: If Trump gives in to protection demands, it will drive solar prices higher
- PV-Magazine: Brookfield closes on TerraForm acquisition
- Greentech Media: What FERC Commissioners Are Saying About the DOE NOPR
- NC Policy Watch: NC WARN taking its solar case vs Duke Energy to state Supreme Court
- PV-Tech: Norway’s Saga in early stage deal to build 2GW of solar projects in Iran – Reports
- Las Vegas Sun: Energy, climate expert says there’s reason for optimism — despite Trump
- Utility Dive: New North Carolina regulatory order trims PURPA avoided cost rates
- Bloomberg: Solar Finds Unexpected Champion in Sean Hannity
Opinion
Have a great day!
Yann